Imprints: Another BEST DAY EVER!!

Another best day EVER!!

Gunaydin

Every morning I wake up to the sun in my eyes; it comes through the window and demands that I get up! This morning, I was the first to get up! I went over to the window and the sun was just coming up, still sleepy, more quiet than demanding. It was beautiful.

My First Fig!!

Peynir Eritme - Fondue

Ekmek Kadayifi

Anne has been taking us on a tour of Turkey while we sit around the kitchen table. This morning we visited Corum and the black sea region. (Anne is from (Ch)orum, Baba is from Black sea region). She made a salad that makes her cry for her son every time she eats it. (It is Suha’s favorite) She also made the most simple and BEST BEST BEST Fondue EVER!!! WHAT??? Yep, from the milk of a relative in the village his father comes from, they made cheese that they freeze and then thawed out and mixed with homemade butter to make fondue for breakfast which is an every morning event there. For me, it was a delicacy, for them, it is normal. It was also the best fondue I’ve ever tasted. WOWZA!! We had a laugh about how I had taken Suha up to the A frames in Hatcher for a special fondue treat with a panoramic view. He never let on that it wasn’t special at all but at Anne’s table he shrugged his shoulders and said the fondue had been “eh, so so. Not like this” It’s true.

Sera - Greenhouse

Got Ayran?

I finally got to hold him!!

Waiting for the show to begin!

Basically, we had breakfast, Anne and Suha went back to bed. Halil and I watched the news, talked about historical figures and I wrote my blog. Much much later, Suha and I walked down to the store to get Anne some things for dinner as well as my very first fresh fig EVER!! We visited a green house that had huge vases and a couple of local stray cats, one that took a liking to me. The owner said that she feeds them, “if you do not show mercy here where you are on earth then you will not be shown mercy in heaven.” She and her son are moving to England to help her brother run a restaurant next summer. Suha had a great chat while I inspected the different species in her plant kingdom.

Holding Uncle Suha's hand, I'm jealous...

Later we had a dinner of ravioli with yogurt sauce (corum) and a sort of cake that is soaked in a simply syrup with whip cream that is on the verge of being butter and walnuts on top…it was…indescribably good and also another one of Suha’s favorites. I was so full I took advantage of their “long laying” ritual and laid down for a nap. Suha woke me up saying Barish and Deniz were here to take us to a water light show…it was 10pm and I could have slept till morning. I was so groggy they almost canceled but I insisted I would wake up soon. While we were driving, Ege started puking and I started dry heaving right along with him. If I had known he was sick I wouldn’t have insisted for sure!! He was like a limp noodle, sweaty and tired. He is such a shy little thing and add to it not feeling too well, he REALLY didn’t want Suha or I to touch him or look at him.

poor sweet sick Ege Bey

The water fountain light show was of EPIC PORPORTIONS!! There was music and lights and of course dancing water. They started with a pop song then a classical piece I recognized but can’t name, then a folk song every one clapped to, and last but definitely not least, a song about Atatuk that EVERYONE sang LOUD AND CLEAR in big boisterous vibrato! They back lit pictures of him on a fan of water… It was thrilling and I got hair raising goose bumps. This weekend is a holiday, August 30^th Zafer Bayrami, which means victory celebration. There are flags being hung everywhere and it is very patriotic.

Sick boy finally asleep

Excited over a very large cup of iced coffee!!

Everyone waiting for the water show to begin

best toy EVER

Afterwards, we sat down for an iced coffee, Kara would have loved this!! A tall glass of iced coffee with whipped cream and coffee ice-cream on top! Ege fell asleep so when we got up, I asked if I could carry him (HA!! Devious aunty trick for kids who are mommy and daddy centric!!) I carried him and sweated buckets and couldn’t stop smiling for half an hour! We stopped again for kokocrek and he woke up. He took everyone on trips through the umbrella isle while we ate, except me of course. He was now awake. We walked down the street with the rest of the families. He saw an airplane toy you push and the propellers go around, best $5 we ever spent!! He was a happy kid and we walked all the way down to the sea to see the city at night. On the way back we found a play area in a park. I ran to the structure with Ege and went down the big slide after him, we ran back around giggling and he went down the small one while I waited at the top of the big one….Here was my chance to make a connection, sans language barriers and coy shyness, we were playing and this was the most important. He ran back around and came up, no hesitation, he plopped in my lap and we went down together. Woohoo! He yelled that was the best slide ever! We went again and again and again. I was soaking wet from sweat. We went on the swings and saw horse and back to the slide. I have a new best friend!!! We only got him to move on by promising we could go to the park with Jenny tomorrow. LOL!! It was an amazing night!!